This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hear from all five members of the Federal Communications Commission about the implementation of voluntary spectrum auctions to help meet the soaring demands of the more than 320 million U.S. mobile subscriptions.

The commissioners will, no doubt, reinforce their oft repeated warning: unless we act swiftly to make more spectrum available for mobile broadband, spectrum capacity in the U.S. could exceed supply as soon as next year. For consumers, that will mean more than longer downloads and more dropped calls. It will mean missed opportunities, and slower innovation, and slower job growth. As FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has rightly pointed out, “the spectrum crunch is the single biggest threat to one of the most promising parts of our economy.”

Today, the United States leads the world in 4G deployment and mobile usage, and the impact on our economy is profound. Mobile e-commerce sales, for example, jumped to $6.7 billion in 2011 and are projected to exceed $30 billion annually by 2015. And all this growth and innovation means jobs – some analysts estimate that mobile innovation has created 1.6 million U.S. jobs in the past five years alone and adding additional spectrum for wireless use could lead to another 500,000 jobs.

The mobile community is doing all it can to address spectrum constraints. Over the past ten years, wireless companies have invested more than $23 billion annually in U.S. mobile infrastructure – that is by far more capital investment in America’s future infrastructure than any other sector in the U.S. economy. Verizon recently stated that it uses half its capital budget on spectrum efficiency. And the transition to 4G LTE network technology, which is 30-40 percent more spectrally efficient than 3G, is underway by eight U.S. carriers. AT&T recently raised the stakes by committing an additional $14 billion dollars on top of its already significant investments to deploy these advanced networks that will speed mobile connectivity.

Now we need policymakers at the FCC to design a spectrum auction that will chart a clear and sustainable path to address the nation’s immediate spectrum needs. With estimates ranging from 7-10 years to bring re-purposed broadcast spectrum online, we’ve no time to waste. And while we can’t drag our feet, we also can’t overlook important details that will make or break a successful auction.

Based on the history of the FCC’s auctions program, there is little doubt that the spectrum auction design can be a resounding success. The FCC has conducted over 80 auctions to issue more than 36,000 licenses, while at the same time raising over $50 billion for the U.S. Treasury over the past two decades. Undoubtedly, a thoughtful spectrum auction design that relies on competitive bidding and fully-functioning markets will ensure that spectrum can flow to its best and highest uses.

Mobile technology and wireless connectivity is the glue that is holding the dynamic centrifuge of American innovation together. We need to get the spectrum auctions done now, but more importantly done right, to continue mobile innovation, spur economic growth and connect hundreds of millions of mobile consumers.

Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future nhas been founding CEO of leading technology, media, and research companies, including Public Insight, Snocap, and Atmedica Worldwide. He served in the Clinton administration as a Director on the National Security Council.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of jobs that adding additional spectrum for wireless use could create.